How to test a 3 month old baby's hearing. Hearing in a newborn child and older - testing, useful information

Checking the child’s hearing status has been mentioned many times in topics about speech. As a matter of fact, if a child does not babble, or the baby babbles rarely and monotonously, the question immediately arises about the state of hearing. How to determine whether a child can hear?
The easiest way is to observe the child's behavior. A newborn baby distinguishes only loud, high sounds and practically does not react to low and quiet ones. By 4-6 months, the child develops the ability to localize sounds. A well-hearing baby from the age of six months has the ability to respond to sounds with a smile, humming and babbling. There is a clear turn of the head towards the sound source. From 9 months, a child can repeat some sounds, most often non-speech (like dad coughing, like mom sneezing, like a hedgehog sniffling). After this age, babies begin to understand the meaning of simple words and begin to speak simple babbling words.
Let's give more details description child behavior, which will help you determine how your baby’s hearing is developing:
0- 6 weeks
In a dream the answer to loud sounds opens eyes, blinks, starts in sleep or wakes up, may cry
Stops sucking or crying when you talk to your baby
6 weeks – 4 months
Stops crying when you talk
Stops sucking when you talk
Reacts to your voice - hums and smiles
Freezes when a new sound is heard
Begins to turn his head in a horizontal position towards sound and voice (4 months)
4-7 months
Turns his head towards the sound, listens, smiles
Turns his head towards your voice
Recognizes and reacts to your voice: begins to walk
Smiles when spoken to
7-9 months
Loves music
Turns his head in search of a sound source, even a very quiet one
Turns when his name is called
Babbles many different sounds
Expresses different sounds different needs
The child begins to understand simple words, such as “mom” and “bye”.
Responsive to sounds of medium volume
9-12/13 months
Points to familiar people or objects when asked, or turns and looks at them
Understands the words “no” and “cannot”
Babbling words appear
Turns around when someone calls him from behind
Turns his head to the one who is talking
Tries to imitate sounds
12-18 months
Uses several babbling words
Turns to familiar objects or people when called by name, may point with finger
Understands simple requests, such as “Throw the ball.”
Begins to make appropriate movements when he hears a familiar rhyme or song (okay, teddy bear)
He waves his hand goodbye in response to your “goodbye”, even if you do not accompany your words with a corresponding gesture.
Turns head towards quiet sounds
2 years
Speaks at least 10 words
Complies with your requests without trying to look at your face (if the child looks closely at your face, he may be reading lips)
The child enjoys having a children's book read aloud to him; he can point his finger at the pictures in the book and call in a way that is accessible to him (aw-aw, bang)
If you feel your child is not demonstrating most of these skills, you can test your hearing in the following ways:

Hearing test using sounding toys: first with a barrel organ, a tweeter, then a pipe and a drum.
You can do it like this:
The child sits on your lap facing you. A second adult plays successively from the right and left, out of the child's field of vision, on these instruments. Then he calls in a loud whisper, also from the right and left.
The child’s reaction is to turn his head in the appropriate direction.
The distance from the child to the toy is 3-4 meters. In the literature, when describing the examination, a distance of 6 meters is mentioned. This distance is only possible in a completely soundproofed room.
If this examination method does not produce results (i.e. the child does not respond to any of the stimuli), then show the child to an otolaryngologist who can test his hearing using a sound reactotest.
If necessary, the research must be continued in an audiology center using special equipment.
In the absence of a sound reactotest, you can use the “pea test” method: jars filled with peas and cereals.
PEA SAMPLES
You need four plastic jars, for example, from Kinder Surprise. Three jars are filled one third full: the first with unshelled peas, the second with buckwheat and the third with semolina. The fourth jar remains empty. Place the baby on the changing table or sit in your arms. The examiner is positioned in front of the child to see changes in his reactions in response to sound stimuli. He shakes the jars at a distance of 20-30 cm from the baby’s right and left ears. At the same time, in one hand he has a jar of cereal (first with semolina, then with buckwheat and last with peas), and in the other hand - an empty jar. Hand movements should be symmetrical. When checking the second ear, the jars are swapped. In response to the signal, the baby must react somehow: freeze, or, conversely, begin to move actively, blink, turn his head towards the sound source. The second, empty jar is needed in order to eliminate the situation when the child turns simply to look at a new unfamiliar object. If the child clearly reacts to the sound of a jar of semolina and determines the direction of the sound, then buckwheat and peas can no longer be presented. There is no need to worry if a baby under 4 months does not react to a jar of semolina: at this age this is normal. Children of this age cannot yet determine the direction of sound. A child over 4 months should respond to the sound of all three jars and turn their head or eyes in the direction of the sound source. Attention parents: you do not need to repeat this examination yourself again and again: by repeated repetition Using sound signals will only result in inhibition of reactions to sound, which will complicate further examination.

What can prevent you from getting the right results?

Remember, the child may respond to lip movements, air movement (if the examination uses clapping or a rubber squeaker with an air stream), vibration of the surface, and the movement of a sounding toy when you shake it.

Parents often complain that the hearing of young children is examined only through examination and identification of reactions to rattles. Meanwhile, there are objective methods for testing the hearing of a young child:
1.The simplest, but not exact method using a sound reactor tester ZRT-1 - used from 4-6 months.
2. Various types of acoustic impedance measurements. An objective technique that allows you to identify hearing impairment caused by middle ear pathology.
3.method for recording delayed evoked otoacoustic emissions. (ZVOAE). Can be done from the first days of life. A simple objective method that does not require a soundproof room.
4.Registration of short-latency auditory evoked potentials - used from the first days of life. An objective, fairly accurate method.

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Formed auditory perception is the key to the full development of the baby. Young parents should know how to test their child's hearing different periods and what signs of its violation exist. Remember: the earlier problems are detected and treatment started, the better the outcome.

The auditory analyzer appears in the embryo from the auditory vesicle. By 12 weeks of pregnancy, the fetus has formed three semicircular canals (balance organs in the inner ear) and the organ of Corti, responsible for the perception of sounds. At 20 weeks auditory nerve covered with myelin cells that serve as insulation for nerve impulses. In the third trimester, the brain's hearing centers begin to mature, which actively develop after birth. The formation process ends at the beginning adolescence.

It is known that a sixteen-week fetus is able to recognize sound signals. However, this does not mean that the baby distinguishes sounds. For him, all noise is a single stream of different volumes and tonality. The development of hearing goes through several stages, knowledge of which will help you understand how to test your child’s hearing.

• By the third week after birth, the baby focuses on the noise and listens. Parents notice that the baby, having heard a loud sound, stopped moving for 5 - 7 seconds.
• At two months, the baby strives to find the source of the sound by turning its head.
• By 4 months, the child distinguishes individual sounds from the stream of noise - a melody, the voice of mom or dad, the ringing of a toy - and turns his head to the source. By the age of 5 months, the baby begins to respond to his name. active movement arms and legs, smiling, cheering.
• At five months, the baby distinguishes the voices of loved ones from the voices of unfamiliar people.
• From the age of six months he begins to copy what he hears. Actively tinkers with loud toys and other objects, extracting sounds from them.
• By 9 months, he repeats heard sounds, syllables and fulfills simple requests.
• By the age of one year, the child pronounces simple words.

As we see, development auditory perception is accompanied by certain reactions, in the absence of which it is necessary to take the baby to an otolaryngologist (ENT).

Examination

The baby’s hearing is checked in the maternity hospital, during a scheduled visit to the therapist, or at the request of the parents, if they notice alarming symptoms. Impairment of auditory perception occurs in the form of weakening (hearing loss) and complete loss (deafness). Testing phonemic and musical hearing occurs after a year and has its own characteristics.

In the maternity hospital

The hearing of most children is checked in the maternity hospital, on the first day after birth, in two ways:

• otoacoustic emissions (OAE). A probe with a microphone and speaker is inserted into the child's ear, through which a sound signal is sent. Record the reaction of the cochlea (parts inner ear) to sounds. The examination takes place in 5 - 8 minutes;
• study of auditory brainstem potentials spinal cord(KSVP, SSVP, ABR, BAER). 4-5 electrodes are attached to the child’s head, and headphones are placed on the child’s ears, through which sounds of different volumes are transmitted. Using a special apparatus, electrical activity is determined nerve fibers. The test lasts 5 - 15 minutes.

At the end of the diagnosis, the doctor gives one of two conclusions.

1. Passed. Most likely, the child does not have a hearing loss disorder. Remember that children with mild hearing loss may be tested. In addition, the disorder may develop gradually. Take your baby for a re-examination after 2 - 3 months.
2. I failed . In this case, a repeat study is prescribed after 7 days: there is a possibility that amniotic fluid V ear canal blocks the sound, or the baby was naughty during testing. If hearing loss is suspected, carry out full diagnostics ABR with different sounds, lasting 40 - 50 minutes.

Methods for testing hearing in a newborn are not able to detect a disorder with 100% probability.

In infants and children over one year of age

If the test result (OAE or ABR) is negative or parents suspect hearing impairment in the baby, they should contact an otolaryngologist. An ENT specialist will check the condition of the outer and middle ear. Then an audiologist—a doctor who specializes in hearing loss—will get involved.

1. Interview parents and child (if possible) about symptoms of the disorder.
2. Examine the ears.
3. Perform hardware diagnostics:

• UAE and ABR;
• tympanometry. The air pressure in the ear is changed, fixing the elasticity eardrum;
• audiometry with visual reinforcement. Suitable for children from six months to two years. Before the child’s eyes there is a video image, sound is transmitted through headphones. The doctor observes the baby's reaction;
• speech intelligibility test. The child is older three years are asked to repeat sounds pronounced at different volumes;
• pure-tone audiometry (for older preschoolers and junior schoolchildren). Headphones are placed on the child's head and asked to press a button or raise his hand when he hears sounds.

Based on the data obtained, the audiologist makes a diagnosis: healthy, hearing loss or deafness.

For children under 5 - 6 years old, audiometry is not performed, as for adults. It is replaced by a set of objective methods (described above).

Symptoms of the disorder

Children at risk are:

• having genetic disorders(there are close relatives with auditory perception disorders);
• born after pathological pregnancy(mother suffered infectious diseases, drank alcohol, took medications, smoked);
• premature or underweight. Please note that they are designed for premature babies. separate norms development, since they are lagging behind in development, including hearing. The doctor will help determine individual parameters;
• injured during childbirth ( long labor, application of forceps, etc.);
• suffered injuries or infectious diseases after birth (loud noise, measles, meningitis, mumps, ear inflammation).

Symptoms of the disorder are:

• up to 3 - 4 months, the baby does not react to loud sounds by freezing or flinching, or wide opening of the eyes;
• by 4 - 5 months, humming and babbling, searching for the source of sound, and reactions to one’s name do not appear;
• by 8 - 12 months the child does not pronounce syllables and simple words;
• comes close to the source of noise to hear;
• speaks louder than required.

Remember that hearing loss in children can occur before or after birth. Carefully monitor the development of the baby, especially those at risk.

Phonemic

Phonemic hearing - the ability to perceive human speech and distinguish it from other sounds. The ability develops gradually by the age of two. Until the age of 5, a child makes mistakes in conversation, but after that, speech becomes “clean” and sounds are pronounced correctly. Take your child to a speech therapist if there are serious violations by the age of 4 - 4.5 years:

• errors in the pronunciation of the phonemes l and r (for example, says “needle” instead of “game”);
• replaces or mixes sounds (t - k, d - g and others);
• skips vowels/consonants, rearranges, pronounces extra letters, softens consonants (“sad” instead of “garden”);
• replaces similar phonemes (z - s, sh - zh, k - g).

Phonemic hearing is impaired due to pathological processes in the cerebral cortex. Auditory perception is distorted. The child reproduces sounds as he hears them. Therefore, errors in sound pronunciation appear.

Musical

Musical hearing implies a person’s ability to perceive, distinguish, remember and reproduce a heard melody. 95% of people have this skill to one degree or another, which increases during training (musical classes). The teacher checks auditory perception according to three criteria:

• sense of rhythm . The teacher taps a rhythm (use well-known children's songs or random rhythmic patterns). The child repeats. Gradually the scheme becomes more complicated;
• intonation A melody is hummed, which the baby reproduces. However, the “purity” of the voice is not related to the development of musical ear;
• musical memory. The child turns away from the piano. The teacher presses a key. The baby listens to the sound and remembers it. Then he turns to the instrument and presses the keys in search of the same sound.

Auditory perception begins to develop in the womb and improves until adolescence. Hearing tests in children are carried out in the maternity hospital or at a scheduled appointment with a therapist in mandatory. If parents notice a deterioration in the child’s hearing, it is necessary to take him to an ENT specialist or audiologist.

With the arrival of a child in the family, it is important to monitor his health, in particular, the condition of the hearing organ. Viral diseases And various infections may lead to serious consequences. The most common complications are speech impairment, hearing loss, and inability to socialize in the outside world.

The sooner parents notice problems with ear health, the sooner the cause of inflammation can be determined and eliminated. possible complications. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a hearing test in children in the very early age.

It is known that even the slightest deterioration in the acuity of sounds can lead to serious violations in the development of the baby. Impairments in the structure of the hearing organ may be temporary. In this case, parents should not worry.

However, in advanced conditions, children need serious help, up to surgical interventions.

The consequences can be irreversible, including complete deafness.

There are situations when violations occur at a later time.

At the age of two or three years, the baby can already speak, but if there are problems in the ears, he may lose speech. In this case it is necessary specialized assistance doctors and teachers to maintain the possibility of communication.

That is why it is important to monitor the child’s development and observe how well the child hears and, at the slightest deviation, contact a specialist.

It is known that hearing can be impaired due to hereditary pathology, and also because the following diseases:

1. Piggy.
2. Measles.
3. Scarlet fever.
4. Flu or cold.
5. After long-term use antibiotics.

An initial hearing test for your child can be done at home. However, a complete hearing test must be implemented in the first months of a child's life. It is usually carried out in a clinic by an otolaryngologist.

Causes of hearing loss

Hearing impairment in children can be divided into three types:

1. Conductive form.
2. Sensorineural.
3. Conductive and neurosensory in one form.

They can be either pathological or acquired. They can be localized in two ears at the same time, but most often occur in only one.

The first form of inflammation occurs due to diseases or trauma to the ear.

This same type includes all inflammations in the nose or pharynx, formation sulfur plugs and hits foreign object in ear. In most cases, this type easy to heal.

The second form includes damage to the structure of the inner and middle ear. This problem arises due to injuries to the middle ear, in the case of prematurity or other prenatal diseases. This is why the sensorineural appearance occurs due to a hereditary predisposition.

Pay attention to your health status, if you have any of the following illnesses during pregnancy:

• viral inflammations such as influenza, colds or rubella;
• diseases of meningitis and mumps;
• long-term use of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, with this type of hearing loss, the period of rehabilitation and cure is quite long, but in maximum quantity case not effective.

It is almost impossible to restore hearing in this condition.

In this case, children are prescribed

In the case of the latter form, inflammation occurs as a result of a combination of pathologies and the perception of sounds. ear canal. In this case they are written as drug treatment, and specialized sound amplifiers.

Prerequisites for problems

Pay attention to ear health if your child under 12 months of age does not flinch or become startled by loud noises. besides this there are the following signs:

1. The baby does not respond to the voice.
2. Doesn't respond to parents' voices.
3. Does not respond to loud noises during sleep.
4. Does not turn his head if a sound comes from behind.
5. Ignores toys with sound.
6. Approaching 12 month date birth does not understand the meaning of simple words.
7. The child does not develop new sounds.

Between the ages of one and three years, the signs change:

• at the age of one or two years the baby does not have coherent speech;
• noticeable disturbance in the formation of sound patterns;
• the baby ignores speech or often asks again;
• If talking man is in another room, the baby does not understand the words;
• if the child pays attention to facial expressions more than words.

Hearing test at home

There are several methods to determine hearing acuity at home. To do this you will need toys that can produce loud sounds: rattles, pipes or accordions. Stand six meters away from the child and make sounds with toys. In the first seconds the baby should freeze, and then turn his head or eyes towards the sound source.

To consolidate the effect, make sounds not only in the baby’s line of sight, but also behind his pockmarks.

Exists one more method entitled "pea test". To implement it, you need three empty dark bottles.

You need to pour peas or buckwheat into two of them, and leave one in its usual position.

Next, one parent takes a jar of cereal in one palm and an empty one in the other. Sit in front of your baby at a short distance. Then start shaking the jars slowly at a distance of about thirty centimeters from your ears.

After a minute, swap the jars and repeat the operation. The second parent carefully observes the baby’s reaction. The child, in turn, must turn his head towards the sound stimulus. By the baby's reaction it is easy to understand whether he hears or not.

It is important to know that this method of testing the hearing organ is only possible from four months.

In children whose age has reached three years, it is possible to analyze their hearing in ordinary speech. Stand six meters away from the child. The baby should not look at the person, so place him sideways, covering one ear.

First, start speaking words in a whisper. If the baby cannot understand the words, come closer.

To check the audibility of high-frequency sounds, stand at a distance from fifteen meters. Words should be spoken clearly and loudly. The child must clearly repeat.

The spoken words must be understandable to the child.

You should know that the smaller the distance between you and the child, but the words are incomprehensible and the child cannot repeat them, the greater the degree of hearing loss in the baby. In this case, contact qualified specialist urgently.

Testing children's hearing using a device

At the slightest inflammation ears and pain The baby needs to see a pediatrician. After the examination, the attending physician will refer you, depending on the case, to an otolaryngologist or audiologist.

Testing a child’s hearing using a device is possible in several directions.

In case of acute or partial hearing loss, the following are carried out: methods for identifying problems:

1. For the youngest patients physiological methods and external examination of the ear.
2. Inspection due to reflex manifestation. It is based on unconditioned reflexes such as muscle contractions, flinching, eye reactions and facial expressions to loud frequencies.
3. Examination for reflexes that appear in response to any action.
4. Analysis auditory ossicles on recording sound waves.
5. Methods based on bodily sensations. Subjective methods are considered when the child reaches the age of five.
6. Oral examination. In this form, words of different frequencies are spoken to the child at different distances.

However The most common type of hearing acuity testing is. Thanks to it, you can get analyzes in the form of graphs, which clearly indicate the type of disease and its degree.

This examination is carried out using specialized drug – audiometer.

The essence of the examination is that the child is different frequencies sound intensity, signals its perception through a button on the audiometer.

Audiometry can be like electronic and speech. However, in the second case, one can only indicate the magnitude of hearing loss.

Conclusion

If you notice the first symptoms of the disease, it is important to start treatment in a timely manner. Since the ability to hear and speak are important factors for socialization in life.

Do not ignore ear problems, as even maternal flu during pregnancy can cause serious complications The child has.

How to determine a child's hearing? The doctor will answer this question. Hearing and the ability to hear has great importance in our modern life. Pathological diseases, received during the period intrauterine development fetus, affect the health status, as well as the development of systems and organs. Among them are vision and hearing. In this text material we will dwell in detail on the question of how to test a child’s hearing.

How to test your child's hearing

According to static data, during the examination, a malfunction auditory analyzer is diagnosed in about 2% of children, a significant proportion of whom are of an early age. The problem of disruption in the functioning of the auditory analyzer should not be underestimated, because depending on its development, the baby develops and adapts to the conditions environment. Children's hearing is an integral part in the development of speech and cognitive abilities. Children with hearing loss begin to talk much later than their peers and are not as active in learning about the world around them.

However, there is no point in getting upset. Any parent has the right to help to your own child- purchase and implant a hearing aid for him. However, before talking about the malfunction of the auditory analyzer, it makes sense to consider the reasons for the malfunction of hearing.

What are the reasons for a malfunction of the hearing analyzer? Signs of hearing loss: how to identify them? In order to identify the disease, the doctor examines the child.

In newborns and children under one year old, as a rule, hearing loss is hereditary and congenital disease. In view of this, if among relatives there are those who suffer similar disease, it makes sense to talk about heredity.

Hearing loss occurs:

• hereditary;
• congenital;
• acquired.

The development of congenital hearing loss occurs for the following reasons:

• Unfavorable course of pregnancy. If the pregnancy occurred with a number of difficulties, with the presence of severe toxicosis, with the threat of miscarriage and premature birth, in view of these circumstances, a hearing ability test should be carried out. Drugs, alcohol and antibiotics have a detrimental influence on the development of the baby's hearing abilities.
• Childbirth with pathology. All currently existing pathological abnormalities become the reason for the cessation of oxygen supply to the fetus, premature, prolonged or, conversely, rapid labor, partial placental abruption, etc.

Hearing loss occurs in combination with the following diseases:

• eye diseases;
• kidney diseases;
• abnormalities in the functioning of the external ear;
• skin lesions;
• pathological abnormalities in the functioning of the endocrine and nervous systems;
• diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Impairments in the functioning of the auditory analyzer can be detected up to a year. Parents at home are often the first to notice this disease.

The baby has no reaction to sounds, and also has difficulties in determining the source of the sound at home. As is known, a baby aged about six months is able to determine from which place a sound is coming.

In addition, at the age of 3-4 years, the baby does not speak.

If the parents have passed this period, then the children should be treated by an audiologist who is able to test the child’s hearing.

A doctor checks children's hearing. If it turns out that the hearing is impaired, the doctor determines the treatment method. He may recommend implanting a hearing aid in the outer ear. After this procedure, the child plunges into the world large quantities sounds. For a child at 3 years old and at 3-4 years old - this is difficult, such an abundance of sounds causes stressful situation, it is for this reason that an audiologist can help children.

It is worth realizing that the sooner hearing loss is detected and rehabilitation begins, the faster adaptation will take place and the more less consequences the baby will have it in the future.

How to test your child's hearing at home

How to test a child's hearing? Before sending your child to the doctor, you should make independent attempts to test your hearing at home.

You should be aware that hearing is tested differently in a newborn, a 1-year-old baby, as well as a preschooler and schoolchild.

In schoolchildren and preschoolers, hearing is tested through the use of spoken and whispered speech. This verification method does not provide a 100% guarantee and depends on subjective factors, quality of the examiner's voice.

And at home, hearing should be checked, excluding extraneous noise.

1. To carry out a hearing test, stand at a distance of 7 meters. This is done so that the child does not recognize words from the lips of the speaker.
2. Since spoken speech is louder than whispered speech, hearing control begins with a whisper. Parents name the words, the child repeats what was said.
3. If the child does not perceive the whisper, then the procedure should be repeated using the conversational timbre of the whisper.
4. We select verbal material based on the child’s age.
5. Doctors use tables with selected words when testing a child's hearing. Most often, tables V.I. are applicable for these purposes. Voyachek, B.V. Bogdanov, Langbek.
6. The hearing of each child's ear should be tested separately. To do this, we ask the child to close his ear with his finger.

Checking the baby's hearing.

For 1 year of life at home, we apply the pea test method. When a sound is heard, the child turns his head or looks towards where the sound is coming from.

A child's reaction to sound occurs after 5 seconds.

The cereal container is replaced with loud toys.

Most of the information on the perception of sound is provided by the child’s reflexes and reactions: blinking, closing his eyes, opening his eyes, frowning, flinching, freezing, turning his head, and so on.

We will talk mainly about Moscow and government institutions. In private companies, everything may be different and you can go there for some specific examination. In the regions, the actions will be similar, and the examinations will be the same, only most likely you will have to go, at least, to the regional center.

How to test your child's hearing

God grant that you don’t need this information on how to check your child’s hearing. Although, on the other hand, there is nothing terrible about hearing loss (only at first glance), people have lived and live with it, and sometimes much more happily than we hearing people.

How do doctors check a child’s hearing?

• In all maternity hospitals, UAE is done on both ears almost immediately after birth. True, at such an early age this means little, and many children do not pass the test.
• Then, as planned, in the district clinic (in addition to all the doctors), the UAE is done again, somewhere in 2-3 months. Here we can already draw some conclusions. Although even at this age, the examination is also not indicative, since the ears are still small and can be clogged with wax. Therefore, if something is wrong, then it makes sense to conduct further examinations, but you should not get upset in advance. I read that there is also behavioral screening in clinics using audio testers, but we didn’t do it, and as I understand it, it is rarely used now, since the error is too large.
• If the OAE test does not pass, then we go to an ENT specialist at the district clinic, who can look at the pathology of the outer ear (is everything okay with the ear canal and eardrum) and writes out a referral to an audiology center or office. In Moscow, this is the audiovisual center on Vernadsky Avenue, 9.
• We make an appointment with an audiologist. You cannot make an appointment at the audiology center on Vernadsky by phone; you need to come in person, bring a referral from the clinic, a health insurance policy and a birth certificate. As a rule, an appointment with a doctor is made in 2-3 weeks.
• At your first appointment with an audiologist, an external examination takes place ( ear canal, membrane), UAE and impedance measurements are performed. After which it is concluded what type of hearing loss is: conductive or sensorineural (synonymous with sensorineural).
• Next, you need to sign up for computer objective audiometry of the KSVP (in another 2-3 weeks), where hearing thresholds at different frequencies will be established and the degree of hearing loss will be determined. And, accordingly, it will become clear whether you can get by with hearing aids or whether you need to think about cochlear implantation.
• At this stage you can still do genetic analysis to connexin. This job costs 2500 rubles, it is not done for free. A gene is identified that is inherited and which may cause hearing loss or deafness. Moreover, parents can be carriers of this gene, but at the same time not experience hearing problems themselves. The result of the analysis affects the timing of cochlear implantation surgery, as well as further prognosis for hearing.

I wrote in detail about each examination (what it is, what they do) here - Hearing Research Methods.

UAE (500 rubles), impedance measurements (500 rubles), objective audiometry of the CVEP (2500 rubles) can be done privately, for example, in a clinic you trust (many recommend Otofon in Moscow and audiologist Smirnova, as well as Melfon and Shimanskaya). However, it is also worth going through government studies, since only after them it will be possible to register a disability, which will allow you to get free Hearing Aids and make cochlear implantation according to the quota. In addition, duplication of examinations never hurts.

It is important to take into account that hearing can change with age, both for the worse and for the better, so audiometry is repeated periodically. This is especially true for premature and low birth weight babies, who have nervous system is formed later. It is unlikely, of course, that the child will become fully hearing, but the degree of hearing loss may change by one level. However, even in ordinary newborns final diagnosis can be obtained by six months or a year.

How to test your child's hearing at home

I am skeptical about such checks, since everything is very individual and a lot can be missed or misinterpreted. However, this also applies to medical examinations. Therefore, it always makes sense to read everything on the Internet, double-check diagnoses with several doctors and use your head. It’s really very difficult for a little person to determine everything very accurately. For example, your baby may seem to be responding to a sound, but he just sees you shaking a rattle. If a child has difficulty hearing, then, as a rule, he has a very tenacious gaze, and he also reacts to vibration caused by sounds.

The child begins to react to sounds as early as a month - he freezes, shudders, and may start crying. Eat different ways, how to test a child’s hearing at home, but they all come down to the same thing. I'll tell you a couple of things:

• Take two jars and pour cereal into one of them, leave the second empty. At the same time, shake them near your ears. Two are needed so that the child reacts specifically to sound, and not to movement. First try buckwheat, then rice, then peas. Different grains correspond to different sound frequencies. See if there is any reaction.
• Make a loud sound behind the child, such as banging pot lids. It's important that he doesn't see you. If he hears, he should flinch.
• You can also try various loud sounds - with your voice, clapping your hands, etc.

I would advise you to listen to your intuition, if you feel that something is wrong, go to the audiologist and get examined. The clinic didn’t want to give us a referral to the hearing care center, saying that everything was fine, he could hear you, but we felt that something was wrong. Remember, early hearing aid can be very good results! The sooner you find out, the more time you will have for making decisions, examinations, and the easier it is to learn.

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06/16/2012 at 12:46 | #

Yes, this is not an easy matter...

06/16/2012 at 12:53 | #

In Moscow there is no Vernadsky Street, there is an avenue =))

06/16/2012 at 01:08 pm | #

Oh, that's right, I got it mixed up :)

You always spoke very well and interestingly about yourself and your life. Now there is Egor. A new huge part of your life. Where are the stories and notes about him? We want photos. Sorry, if you guys have reasons not to do this, not to write about it, I think everyone will understand.

But I just want to say that I, as your reader, have a huge interest in this topic. I would like to see photos of the growing toddler. Emotions and curiosities. And everything about the behavior of such an unusual baby is also very interesting. What are you facing? What's unexpected for you? How do you get out of situations? I understand that you have your first child, and, so to speak, there is nothing to compare with. But still...

A friend of mine has a son who is deaf. I remember, at 2.5 years old - this is so unusual - if he turns away from his parent, then you can only catch up with him and stop him. In principle, an obvious and logical reaction, but when you see it for the first time, it gives rise to a bunch of thoughts.

How do you calm him down if he cries? Are you talking to him? How does he react to emotions?

In general, I think this is very interesting to many. And even more so, in that sincere and open manner as you usually write!))))

06/16/2012 at 15:41 | #

We need to think, I don’t even know what we could write about now.

There's not much to say. Up to six months, deaf children are almost no different from ordinary children, which is why they are not always identified. Therefore, we now have the most ordinary life of young parents...

Perhaps the only difference is that he doesn’t get off his hands, that he sleeps little, that he cries a lot and loudly. But this is not connected with everything with hearing, but with neuralgia. Every day is similar to the other, and we have not yet started working with it, that is, I personally cannot yet identify any features...

06/16/2012 at 15:43 | #

Thanks for the answer. I'll wait. And just know that this is interesting to us)))

06/16/2012 at 16:01 | #

You can just try to write a post about what difficulties we face, without reference to hearing impairments... I’m not sure if it will be interesting, but I’ll think about it :) There is one turkey, but it has not yet fully formed.

And yes, as soon as the specifics regarding deaf children are clear, we will immediately write about it.

06/16/2012 at 16:43 | #

Of course write! You wrote about old things - look how many people are interested in this topic. And here is a little child!

We'll be waiting for the post!

06/17/2012 at 20:53 | #

By the way, here is one of Egor’s last photos, if you’re interested :)

06/16/2012 at 14:58 | #

With Aliska, I clapped and thought... The second Grisha made my task very easy. He was born and immediately began to turn his head to any sound, not even a mega-loud one. And in a month I even went crazy from quiet music :)

06/16/2012 at 15:42 | #

We didn’t react at all, and even now, in fact, too. Even music, even loud conversations. But light bulbs, and any light, immediately attracts his gaze and can wake him up :)

08/10/2012 at 00:55 | #

Good evening, everyone! This topic is very familiar to me, because our first child was born hard of hearing. Due to our inexperience, we could not immediately determine that Vanya could not hear. We noticed it in kindergarten when Vanya started at 2.6 months. Yes, on the street he immediately broke down and ran, did not respond to his name, but played with the children as equals, only getting his attention by patting him on the shoulder or making gestures... Now Vanya is 6.5 years old. We've been wearing SA since we were 3 years old. We have done a lot of work. He speaks poorly, but reads, writes, counts and solves problems well. But we have a second child, Egorka, we are 9 months old and we plan to examine him too, because... there are suspicions. I'm scared to think about it. He does not always react to loud sounds, he does not always respond to names, he does not babble or pronounce individual syllables. We signed up for an examination, I want me to be wrong in my suspicions...

08/10/2012 at 01:03 | #

Svetlana, thank you for your feedback and good luck with the examination! Even if your second child also has disabilities, you already know a lot of things, which means it will be easier than the first time. Well, it seems so to me, at least.

By the way, your Egor is our son’s namesake, and his age is almost the same)))

09/17/2012 at 01:13 pm | #

My mother recently gave birth to a brother here, so I became interested in this question, thanks for the recommendations, I’ll try it and see.))

04/17/2015 at 18:46 | #

08/16/2016 at 09:12 | #

Tell me, at the earliest when does it make sense to have your hearing checked? The phone told us that earlier three months there is no point. They didn’t check us at the maternity hospital because of intensive care

08/27/2016 at 14:03 | #

In principle, yes, at 3 months it probably makes sense. The main thing is not to delay, if you have stage 4 and there are no contraindications, then it is better to have cochlear implantation before a year.

21.11.2016 at 21:41 | #

Thank you very much for the detailed article, and most importantly for the names of clinics and doctors!! Tell me, how much does it affect the results of examinations if the child does not sleep during the examination?

22.11.2016 at 22:20 | #

If you use computer audiometry, then the child must sleep, otherwise everything will not be accurate and you will have to redo it. But if the child is an adult, then this is no longer necessary, but they check differently.

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This blog is dedicated to topics related to our son Egor: the everyday life of a non-ambulatory deaf boy, cochlear implantation, classes, rehabilitation centers.

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We started with a travel blog, but we were born special child and dramatically changed our lives. Therefore, there was a need for a separate website dedicated to our deaf, non-ambulatory, but dearly beloved boy :)

How can you test your child's hearing?

Normal hearing is very important for the harmonious development of a child. Even a slight decrease in it leads to serious consequences - speech disorders, poor understanding of others, psychological discomfort, difficulties of socialization. Parents and other family members are the first to notice possible problems with a child's hearing. The sooner they are discovered and the extent of loss is established auditory function, the faster you can take action - administer medication or surgery, begin rehabilitation measures.

It is important from birth to carefully monitor how well the baby hears and, at the slightest suspicion of hearing impairment, immediately consult a doctor.

The sooner the degree of loss of hearing function is established, the faster action can be taken

A child’s hearing should be checked in the following cases:

• upon admission to an educational institution;
• with delays in speech development;
• after suffering severe and long-term illnesses, otitis media, influenza, measles, mumps, after treatment with antibiotics with ototoxic effects;
• when referred to PMPK due to suspected developmental delay.

Forms and causes of hearing impairment

All hearing impairments, depending on the localization of the process in the auditory analyzer, are divided into three forms: conductive, sensorineural (neurosensory) and mixed. They can be hereditary, congenital or acquired. The process of violations can be one-way or two-way.

• Conductive forms arise as a result of diseases, injuries, congenital anomalies development of the outer and middle ear - the sound conducting system. They can be caused by otitis media, inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx, sulfur plugs, ingestion foreign body into the ear canal, mechanical injuries to the eardrum. They respond well to treatment, after which in most cases hearing is completely restored.
• Sensorineural (neurosensory) forms arise as a result of damage to the structures of the inner ear and central departments auditory analyzer - sound-perceiving system. They may be a consequence birth injuries, asphyxia, prematurity, hemolytic disease newborns, sepsis. This form disorders is largely determined by hereditary predisposition. In addition, their occurrence can be caused by:

1. viral infections of the mother during pregnancy - rubella, measles, influenza;
2. childhood infectious diseases - measles, scarlet fever, influenza, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, meningitis, mumps;
3. use of ototoxic antibiotics and drugs;

With sensorineural hearing loss and deafness, restoring or improving hearing is almost impossible. Such children require hearing aids, special correctional classes on the development of auditory perception. It is possible to compensate for hearing loss with the help of cochlear implantation, but it cannot help in every case.

• Mixed forms of hearing loss arise as a result of a combination of pathologies of the sound-conducting and sound-perceiving systems of the auditory analyzer. In this case, drug treatment will partially improve hearing, but without special pedagogical assistance and the use of sound-amplifying equipment, it will be ineffective.

What indicates possible hearing problems in a child

Under 1 year of age

• At 2-3 weeks of life, he does not flinch at loud sounds, does not freeze when he hears a voice;
• At 1-3 months, the baby does not perk up at the mother’s voice and does not turn to the sound of a voice behind;
• During sleep there is no reaction to sudden loud sounds;
• At the age of 4 months, the child does not turn his head towards the voice or sounding toy;
• At 4-6 months, the humming gradually fades away, without turning into babbling;
• At 9-10 months, the baby reacts incorrectly to simple instructions and does not understand the meaning of many simple words;
• From 8-10 months he does not develop new sounds, stable sound combinations, or simple words.

Over 1 year of age

• Up to 3 years of age, there is no phrasal speech or the process of its formation is significantly impaired;
• The child does not understand spoken speech well and constantly asks questions;
• Does not answer questions or respond to words if the person speaking is out of sight;
• When speaking, carefully looks at the face and lips of the speaker, watches facial expressions;
• When watching TV or listening to music, the volume constantly increases;
• Has difficulty distinguishing speech on the telephone and often moves the receiver from one ear to the other.

Ways to test your hearing at home

Ages 1-3 years

Using an orienting reaction to sounding toys: rattle, drum, pipe, accordion. The reaction can manifest itself in the form of freezing, increased movements, turning the head or eyes towards the sound source. The sound is given by one adult behind the child's back, with different sides out of sight, at different distances. Another adult carefully observes the baby's behavior.

In addition, you can carry out the so-called “pea test”: pour peas, buckwheat and semolina into 3 small identical jars of kinder surprises, photographic film or medicine, leaving one of the same jars empty. An adult takes in right hand jar with cereal, and the left one is empty, sits down in front of the child’s face and begins to shake them symmetrically at a distance of cm near the ears. Then the jars change places, and the adult observes whether the child turns his gaze to the sounding one. Containers with other cereals are used in the same way. By the child's reaction it is easy to determine whether he hears sounds or not. But babies under 4 months do not respond to the sound of semolina.

In children over 3 years old

For children who have already learned to speak well, they can check their hearing status at home by speaking. Words are pronounced in an adult whisper from a distance of 6 meters. The child first stands with his right side to the speaker, left ear while covered with cotton wool. If he does not hear the words, the distance is gradually reduced. After which the child is turned with his left side towards the speaker, covering his right ear with cotton wool. The same procedure is repeated with a conversational volume voice from a distance of 20 meters. If the child cannot repeat the words correctly, the distance is gradually reduced. You can use the following set of words:

The words used must be appropriate age development child. The shorter the distance at which a child hears and correctly repeats all words spoken by an adult, the greater his hearing loss. In this case, you must immediately seek advice and help from a medical institution.

Medical examination of hearing function in children

If there is any suspicion of hearing loss, you should first contact your local pediatrician, who, depending on the situation, may refer you for a consultation with a pediatric otolaryngologist or audiologist. An audiologist diagnoses and treats hearing disorders and conducts audiometric examinations of auditory function in a children's clinic or audiology center. To examine children and determine hearing loss thresholds, they are used. the following types methods:

• Objective (physiological) methods - allow you to obtain results objectively, regardless of the accompanying circumstances. They are used for very young children.
• Unconditional reflexes are based on the manifestation of unconditional orientation reflexes (muscle contractions, eye reactions, respiratory and cardiovascular reflexes, facial reactions) in response to sound stimulation;
• Conditioned reflexes are based on the manifestation of a reflex in response to some action performed at the same time as the sound is given;
• Analysis of auditory evoked potentials is based on recording electrical signals in the sections of the auditory analyzer that arise in response to sound signals of varying intensity.
• Subjective (psychoacoustic) methods are based on assessing the human sensations that arise when sound stimuli are presented. They are used for older children.
• Examination using whisper and colloquial speech. The child is presented at different distances with a list of words with different acoustic characteristics corresponding to his age development.
• Threshold tone audiometry is the most common method of hearing research, which is carried out using special electroacoustic equipment - an audiometer. It consists in defining different frequencies minimum intensity sound signal, in which the sensation of sound arises. The obtained data is displayed in the form of a graph - an audiogram.
• Speech audiometry is used to determine the amount of speech hearing loss. Through an audiometer, the subject is given a set of words recorded on a tape recorder, and the doctor notes the number of correctly reproduced ones.

Please note: all information published on the site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or recommendations! To get the most complete information about your health, as well as receiving necessary treatment We strongly recommend that you consult a doctor in person!

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How to test a child's hearing?

With the arrival of a child in the family, it is important to monitor his health, in particular, the condition of the hearing organ. Viral diseases and various infections can lead to serious consequences. The most common complications are speech impairment, hearing loss, and inability to socialize in the outside world.

The sooner parents notice ear health problems, the sooner the cause of inflammation can be determined and possible complications can be eliminated. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a hearing test in children at a very early age.

About ear problems

It is known that even the slightest deterioration in the sharpness of sounds can lead to serious disturbances in the development of the baby. Impairments in the structure of the hearing organ may be temporary. In this case, parents should not worry.

However, in advanced conditions, children require serious help, including surgical interventions.

The consequences can be irreversible, including complete deafness.

There are situations when violations occur at a later time.

At the age of two or three years, the baby can already speak, but if there are problems in the ears, he may lose speech. In this case, specialized assistance from doctors and teachers is necessary to maintain the possibility of communication.

That is why it is important to monitor the child’s development and observe how well the child hears and, at the slightest deviation, contact a specialist.

It is known that hearing can decrease due to hereditary pathology, as well as due to the following diseases:

An initial hearing test for your child can be done at home. However, a complete hearing test must be implemented in the first months of a child's life. It is usually carried out in a clinic by an otolaryngologist.

Causes of hearing loss

Hearing impairment in children can be divided into three types:

1. Conductive form.
2. Sensorineural.
3. Conductive and neurosensory in one form.

They can be either pathological or acquired. They can be localized in two ears at the same time, but most often occur in only one.

The first form of inflammation occurs due to diseases or trauma to the ear.

In addition, anomalies in the development of the outer and middle ear are also provocateurs of conductive hearing loss.

This type includes all types of otitis media, inflammation in the nose or pharynx, the formation of cerumen plugs and foreign objects entering the ear. In most cases, this type is easy to cure.

The second form includes damage to the structure of the inner and middle ear. This problem arises due to injuries to the middle ear, in the case of prematurity or other prenatal diseases. This is why the sensorineural appearance occurs due to a hereditary predisposition.

Pay attention to your health status if you have the following diseases during pregnancy:

• viral inflammations such as influenza, colds or rubella;
• diseases of meningitis and mumps;
• long-term use of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, with this type of hearing loss, the period of rehabilitation and recovery is quite long, but in most cases it is not effective.

It is almost impossible to restore hearing in this condition.

In the case of the latter form, inflammation occurs as a result of a combination of pathologies and the perception of sounds by the ear canal. In this case, both drug treatment and specialized sound amplifiers are prescribed.

Prerequisites for problems

Pay attention to ear health if your child under 12 months of age does not flinch or become startled by loud noises. In addition, there are the following signs:

1. The baby does not respond to the voice.
2. Doesn't respond to parents' voices.
3. Does not respond to loud noises during sleep.
4. Does not turn his head if a sound comes from behind.
5. Ignores toys with sound.
6. As the 12th month of birth approaches, he does not understand the meaning of simple words.
7. The child does not develop new sounds.

Between the ages of one and three years, the signs change:

• at the age of one or two years the baby does not have coherent speech;
• noticeable disturbance in the formation of sound patterns;
• the baby ignores speech or often asks again;
• if the person speaking is in another room, the baby does not understand the words;
• if the child pays attention to facial expressions more than words.

Hearing test at home

There are several methods to determine hearing acuity at home. To do this, you will need toys that can make loud sounds: rattles, pipes or accordions. Stand six meters away from the child and make sounds with toys. In the first seconds, the baby should freeze, and then turn his head or eyes towards the sound source.

To consolidate the effect, make sounds not only in the baby’s line of sight, but also behind his pockmarks.

There is another method called the “pea test”. To implement it, you need three empty dark bottles.

You need to pour peas or buckwheat into two of them, and leave one in its usual position.

Next, one parent takes a jar of cereal in one palm and an empty one in the other. Sit in front of your baby at a short distance. Then start shaking the jars slowly at a distance of about thirty centimeters from your ears.

After a minute, swap the jars and repeat the operation. The second parent carefully observes the baby’s reaction. The child, in turn, must turn his head towards the sound stimulus. By the baby's reaction it is easy to understand whether he hears or not.

It is important to know that this method of testing the hearing organ is only possible from four months.

In children who have reached the age of three, hearing can be analyzed using ordinary speech. Stand six meters away from the child. The baby should not look at the person, so place him sideways, covering one ear with a turunda.

First, start speaking words in a whisper. If your baby can't understand the words, come closer.

To check the audibility of high-frequency sounds, you should stand at a distance of fifteen meters. Words should be spoken clearly and loudly. The child must repeat them clearly.

The spoken words must be understandable to the child.

You should know that the smaller the distance between you and the child, but the words are incomprehensible and the child cannot repeat them, the greater the degree of hearing loss in the baby. In this case, contact a qualified professional as a matter of urgency.

Testing children's hearing using a device

If your baby experiences the slightest inflammation of the ears or pain, you should contact your pediatrician. After the examination, the attending physician will refer you, depending on the case, to an otolaryngologist or audiologist.

Testing a child's hearing using a device is possible in several directions.

In case of acute or partial hearing loss, following methods problem definitions:

1. For the youngest patients, physiological methods and external examination of the ear are performed.
2. Inspection due to reflex manifestation. It is based on unconditioned reflexes such as muscle contractions, flinching, eye reactions and facial expressions to loud frequencies.
3. Examination for reflexes that appear in response to any action.
4. Analysis of the auditory ossicles by recording sound waves.
5. Methods based on bodily sensations. Subjective methods are considered when the child reaches the age of five.
6. Oral examination. In this form, words of different frequencies are spoken to the child at different distances.

However, the most common type of hearing acuity analysis is audiometry. Thanks to it, you can get analyzes in the form of graphs, which clearly indicate the type of disease and its degree.

This examination is carried out using a specialized drug – an audiometer.

The essence of the examination is that the child signals his perception at different frequencies of sound intensity using a button on the audiometer.

Audiometry can be either electronic or speech. However, in the second case, one can only indicate the magnitude of hearing loss.

Conclusion

If you notice the first symptoms of the disease, it is important to start treatment in a timely manner. Since the ability to hear and speak are important factors for socialization in life.

Do not ignore ear problems, as even the mother’s flu during pregnancy can cause serious complications in the child.

Directory of main ENT diseases and their treatment

All information on the site is for informational purposes only and does not claim absolute accuracy. medical point vision. Treatment must be carried out by a qualified doctor. By self-medicating you can harm yourself!